Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Genesis of a Writer




Genesis. The beginning of everything. In Genesis 1 in the bible, the creation of the universe began when God said “let there be light.”


So what does genesis have to do with writing? For writers, there is  a specific pinpoint that contributes to the creation of stories. Whole worlds, although imagined, made alive with pen and paper. And made the more beautiful and intriguing as not all creation stories behind the story are the same.


The genesis of a book is something that always interested me. It’s a question I love asking authors when I take part in their blog tours. For many, the story came from a muse whispering in their ear or a suggestion made by others. I find it fascinating to learn more about the story behind the story.


JK Rowling created the Harry Potter because of a delayed train. And wrote out the idea for the series on a napkin. The Hunger Games creation story was influenced by reality TV shows. Roman gladiator games and the Greek myth of the Minotaur.


The genesis of my own WIP supernatural novel Nadia the Fire Witch (tentative title) came from a dream. Where a girl risks her identity as a witch to save a friend. Just thought she was too bada** to let her stay inside a dream. My urban fantasy novella The Soul Traveler is also based on a dream. And the genesis of my epic fantasy Harbinger of El Tinor (in hiatus) happened while waiting for a delayed train. Hmm, isn’t that a similar situation to someone?

Anyways, there’s a story behind every story. And I’d like to know more about your story(s) ‘let there be light’ moment. Care to share the where, when, how, etc?

8 comments:

  1. Well, due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm too stressed right now to work on my current wip but because I can't stand not writing I thought I'd write some fanfic based on an old movie called They Live. Just for fun.

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  2. I recently wrote a short story about a baking competition. The idea came to me when I was buying fresh, locally grown strawberries. Great post. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. Into the Fire was inspired by Laura Collins, a character on the original Dark Shadows TV series. Even though I was a child when my mother watched those reruns, a character who was a phoenix and could be reborn through fire stuck with me.

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  4. The one that I'm working on at the moment (well, that's "resting" and I'll get back to any day) was kinda born while I was sitting in my high school band class. I wondered if it made any difference whether one was naturally talented or if one just worked really hard to achieve a skill.

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  5. I watched the movie Highlander and wondered where he managed to hide the darn sword on his body and Of Oak and Dragons was born.

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  6. @Nicola Thanks. Amazing what comes to us while doing every day things.

    @Kelly Interesting. I only knew about phoenixes because I loved the Greek myths growing up. Didn't know they had a TV series based on it.

    @Liz Oh, the age old question. Talent versus hard work. Thanks for sharing Liz.

    @Huntress I remember Highlander. My mom was a huge fan so ended up watching a bit with her too. And you're right. Where did he keep that sword?

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  7. @mshatch Nothing wrong with taking a breather and write something else. What's the movie about? And how's the fanfic going so far?

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  8. My current novel is the sequel to my previously published novella, Augment, and the idea for it came for me while I was still working on Augment. My first thought was, oh no, I already have an idea for a sequel... But that quickly changed to excitement--Yay, I have an idea for a sequel! Most of my story ideas tend to pop into my head randomly with no warning.

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